Learning to Relate . . .

I’ve learned a few things over the last eight weeks about relating to folks who are different from me. I’ve been sitting in a Wednesday night class at a local church, listening to speakers from a local Islamic missionary training center share insights and strategies for understanding Islam and relating to Islamic peoples. It’s been helpful.

Life on the mountain . . .

I have an affinity for life in high places, but that choice has some challenges. I’ve just spent the last 30 hours without electricity. A torrential rain storm brought thunder and lightning barreling through Central Pennsylvania, and the sudden natural fury took down trees, roofs, branches, and power lines. It also took out my utilities. The utility company took two days to repair all the disconnections. I found the darkness unsettling…

War’s Fruit . . .

The Washington Post this week reported that American troops returning from the battlefield are carrying monumental psychological and emotional wounds, but the systems in place to help soldiers heal aren’t working, and don’t seem to care that they’re failing veterans in need.

What If He Meant What He Said. . .

I’ve been listening to someone I trust talk about putting the elements of communion in the church’s prayer room, so that individuals who spend time there in prayer can also celebrate with the Lord in an intimate, communal experience.

His comments take me to a long period in my earlier life when I belonged to a faith community that, while it had its other flaws, took Jesus at His Word when He said,

. . . He took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20)

Missing the Mark…

I messed up this week. Actually it was last Wednesday. I was driving back from the university medical center, after a grueling 2-hr echocardiogram. (And it wasn’t that grueling either, except for the technician trainee who kept trying to use the probe as a trocar. I think I’m pitching for sympathy here.)

I swung onto 83 South, toward Harrisburg, and was trying to get over into the left lane. It’s the bypass lane…nobody in that lane has any plans for getting off the highway for miles, so it’s faster, and has less stop-n-go traffic.

A truck in front of me moved to the right, and I put on my left turn signal, planning to get over into the empty space, but a van in the left lane kept pulling up halfway into the space, so I couldn’t move either way–in front of it or pull in behind. That went on for awhile–me trying to get into the left lane, and the van, trying to keep me from going anywhere! As the occupants finally pulled alongside, they all looked over at me. I looked back, annoyed, and clearly mouthed my opinion of their IQ and character.

Getting Back to Fundamental Things…

Bonnie Raitt’s 1998 album, Fundamental, features a lead song, The Fundamental Things. The lyrics speak of getting back to what’s real and meaningful in relationships. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Actually, I’ve thought about that most of my life. But deciding what I value and why has been an evolving process.